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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Alighieri who wrote (183768)	2/26/2004 5:36:43 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1574386

Al, these people are from you part of the country. <font color=brown>Join the Campaign to STOP THE WAR PROFITEERS AND END THE CORPORATE INVASION OF IRAQ A handful of well-connected corporations are poised to make billions in profits off the death and destruction of war in Iraq. Merchants of misery like Bechtel, Halliburton, MCI and others — many with scandal-ridden records — are raking in massive profits through insider “reconstruction” contracts. Other multinationals are leading a “second invasion” of corporate interests seeking to seize control of Iraq’s oil, water and other resources — resources that belong to the Iraqi people. It’s time to stop the war profiteers and corporate looters of Iraq. Join Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, United for Peace and Justice, Veterans for Peace, and others in the campaign today! southernstudies.org

To: Alighieri who wrote (183768)	2/26/2004 11:50:49 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1574386

'Calamity Clare' is accused of sabotage as she fires another furious broadside at Tony Blair By Andrew Grice, Political Editor 27 February 2004 When Clare Short arrived at the BBC's Millbank studio in Westminster yesterday morning, she knew she was about to drop a bombshell. Her explosive allegation that Britain spied on the United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan may have sounded unplanned and certainly took John Humphrys, the presenter of Radio 4's Today programme, by surprise. But for the former International Development Secretary, the time had come to speak out after the collapse of the case against the GCHQ whistleblower Katherine Gun, who leaked the fact that the United States had asked Britain to mount a "dirty tricks" operation against members of the UN Security Council in the build up to the Iraq war. As a member of Tony Blair's war cabinet, Ms Short had been troubled to see transcripts of Mr Annan's telephone conversations. She had been tempted to tip him off at the time, but resisted. Her failure to do so has worried her ever since. "It troubled me and I decided to bring it into the public domain and that's what I've done," she said. "This is the journey of my conscience. I don't mean it's a perfect journey." After lighting the fuse, Ms Short left to address a London conference - appropriately enough, on international law. By lunchtime, she was under siege by the media asking her to amplify her remarks to the BBC. She planned her next moves with her aides in her House of Commons office, deciding to reject demands from government loyalists for a "period of silence" and agreeing to interviews with Channel 4 and the BBC's Newsnight programme. Channel 4's Jon Snow asked: "You've had many noisy days but few noisier than this. Where do you think it's going to end for you?" She replied: "I'm not troubled about myself. I've reached an age and stage where I'm free to tell the truth and be responsible to my conscience." There was a rich irony in the timing of the latest and biggest bombshell of Ms Short's career. It ensured that Tony Blair's long-planned announcement of an international commission on Africa at his monthly press conference was completely overshadowed. Despite her differences with Mr Blair, and her repeated calls for him to stand down, her friends insisted she would not have wanted to eclipse the plan for Africa. Yet some ministers were so incensed at her intervention that they accused her of sabotage. Mr Blair described her actions as "entirely consistent" as well as "totally irresponsible". In the Blair inner circle, Ms Short became known as "Calamity Clare" as she twisted and turned in the build up to what she regarded as an unstoppable, pre-ordained war in Iraq. In a BBC Radio 4 interview, she said the looming war was "reckless" and that she would consider resigning from the cabinet if there was no UN mandate for military action. Yet she did not resign, even when Robin Cook did. Mr Blair urged her to stay to influence post-war Iraq. But once she decided to stay, she was, in the words of one Blair aide, "a busted flush" and a "prisoner". She even voted for the war. Some allies deserted her when she did not resign, as she knew they would. She believes that Mr Blair broke his promises to her that the UN would play a significant role in Iraq's future. She admits now she was a "complete failure" when she stayed on, but is glad that she tried. Mr Blair said yesterday that Ms Short had been a good International Development Secretary, a post she held from 1997 until her eventual resignation in May last year. She went out with all guns blazing, launching a stinging attack on Mr Blair's "presidential" style. She said he was "in danger of destroying his legacy as he becomes increasingly obsessed by his place in history", and called for an "elegant succession" under which he would stand aside for Gordon Brown. The Prime Minister has always had a tempestuous relationship with Ms Short. Her reaction when he was elected Labour leader in 1994 was: "My God, what have we done?" Ms Short memorably labelled the spin doctors of the New Labour project as "people who live in the dark". Her honest, free-thinking approach to politics often grated with the disciplinary straitjacket imposed on the party by Mr Blair. After several frontbench jobs in opposition, the natural rebel found life in government much more satisfying as she moulded the Department of International Development into a body which was admired worldwide. Ms Short forged an important partnership with Mr Brown, who is deeply interested in third world issues such as debt relief. According to some Labour MPs, she even flirted with the idea of becoming deputy Labour leader and Foreign Secretary in a Brown government. Significantly, allies of the Chancellor have distanced themselves from her since her resignation and it is unclear whether Ms Short, now 58, would be recalled to the cabinet if he succeeds Mr Blair. news.independent.co.uk